FREEZE...

I have been tagged. If you know me, then you know I cannot resist playing along when games are involved! Plus, I have been in the car for about 10 of the last 36 hours. Did I mention my 3 year old was with me. Ummmm, yeah. That means I need some adult conversation (about 3 bottles of wine) and you are being forced to be my friend.

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

So many to chose from. Hmmmmmm...It does agitate me when the toilet paper gets put on backward (at least backwards to my world!). Ok folks, it should go over, not under. Under means you can spin the roll over and over and not get the end to hang loose so you can pull the toilet paper. Let's just say that I don't like to spend extra time with my face over the toilet that my child just (use your imagination here)'ed in trying to unroll the toilet paper.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I would love to live near a beach. Somewhere that has pretty consistent nice weather. I think it would just facilitate a healthy and energetic lifestyle for my family verses trying to get outside in NE Ohio's Winters......UGH.

3. Have you ever been searched by the cops?

No. Probably should have been at some point ;-)

4. What is the one thing on your mind right now?

WANT TO SLEEP!

5. Favorite song right now?

Hmmmm.....tough one. I really like listening to music so this is difficult. I like all different types of music too. I will say that I have always really liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Lisa Loeb. I know that doesn't really answer the question, but that's the best I got!


6. What talent do you wish you had?

I have always wished that I could play the guitar. I only know like 5 chords and it is pretty bad.

7. Favorite drink?

Here's the rundown-

Morning: water and coffee (the stronger the better)

The rest of the day it is usually water or a diet pop as an occasional treat. Coffee is often splattered throughout the rest of the day as well depending on the need.

For a night out or just because- I really enjoy wine (nothing too sweet) or anything with tequila. Yes, I am a tequila girl. I also like a very flavorful beer (usually dark).

8. In one word, how would you describe yourself?

So many options here... I don't think there is one word. Energetic, maybe? I am definitely a work in progress. If I had to use one word to describe me today, it would be TIRED!!!


Now, for the really fun part! I get to tag eight other people to play along. Thanks for thinking of me Jamey!

I pick:

1) Sarah (known her since birth!)

2) Jen (The more I get to know her, the more I love her!!)

3) Janna (Never seen her annoyed...would love to know her pet peeve!!)

4) Sam (Just moved and is very busy, but I miss reading her posts)

5) Summer (Life long friend who has a whole lot going on!)

6) Amanda (Someone who I love seeing and reading!!)

7) Erika (busy mom who I will see a whole lot more soon! YAY!!)

8) Amy D (You don't have a blog and this is a reason to start one. You are hilarious, and I would read it every day!!!)

Playing Around....LoL/ LoL

Some friends of mine, Jamey and Katy, are doing a blog series called LoL/ LoL which stands for Lots of Littles/Lots of Laughs. They both have lots of littles and lots of laughs, so I HIGHLY recommend that you click on their names and check out their blogs!

I, on the other hand, do not have lots of littles, but the little one I do have is FULL of laughs. I guess you could say that I can try to participate at about 50% (gotta keep my math teach skills sharp). Today's posts are still introductory posts. I invite you to stick around and you may even learn something new about me.

1. If you weren't a SAHM what do you think you'd miss the most?
This is pretty easy for me since I haven't been a SAHM for very long. I would miss the random hugs and snuggles throughout the day. I would miss the hilarious things that Jo says every 5 minutes (that I forget 5 seconds later). However, the thing I would miss the most would be Jo waking me up every morning. She is my alarm clock, and she wakes me up in a different way each day. It may be a song or an animal noise. She may try to scare me (not my favorite). Today it was by being an owl. There is nothing better than waking up to see her smiling face 2 inches from mine every morning. Well, it might be better if it were after 8.

2. Do you have a favorite family ritual?
It is sad for me to admit that I can't think of a ritual for our whole family. Every since I had Johanna, Brian and I have been on pretty opposite schedules. This equaled little to no time when all three of us were together at once. It was hard. This is why Brian made the career change and started his own business, and I am now a SAHM. However, we have basically been living in two different states since he started the business in March. Jo and I are set to move down in a few weeks, so I hope to add to the list of family rituals soon.

However, I have several rituals with Jo that I LOVE. One would be Movie Night. I let her pick the movie, we lay on the floor, and we eat ice cream and other treats for dinner during the movie. It equals a later and sometimes dicey bedtime, but it is a total blast!

3. Are you the only cook in your house?
Yes and no. I would say I cook about 95% of the time. Brian can cook and will do the occasional specialty lasagna or BBQ ribs (which he loves to do). I am definitely the day to day cook. I really enjoy cooking and baking for my family. However, Brian always runs the grill. I have never touched the grill except to buy it for him!

4. Are you a good housekeeper?
Not quite sure how to answer this... I guess I would say yes. I hold myself to standards that I would NEVER hold anyone else to in that area. It is part of my perfectionism that my counselor (yes, I am in therapy) is working with me on right now. It is a control issue for me, and it's not a good thing. Going into this is a whole other can of worms for another day....

5. What do you and your husband do for couple time?
We don't have much of this right now with the whole different states thing going on. When we do see each other we like to have date nights with dinner and a movie or maybe some shopping. We watch Community and The Office together every week and might be adding Outsourced to that list. I love Thursday T.V.!!

6. What's the one parenting rule that you never break?
Hmmmmmm...this is tough one. I have broken most of my rules at least once. I am pretty big on respect for others...especially adults. As a teacher I dealt with TOO MANY kids that never learned to live under authority. She definitely knows that there is an order of authority. Mommy and Daddy are in charge of her. God is in charge of mommy and daddy. Johanna is in charge of her "aminals" (meaning stuffed animals). She tells me this everyday.

7. What do you want your kiddos to grow up knowing?
I want her to know that God loves her unconditionally, and that NOTHING can separate her from that love. I spend a lot of time reminding her that Mommy and Daddy will ALWAYS love her NO MATTER WHAT and that she is a beautiful person inside and out. I want her to know that we ALL make poor decisions, but they don't define who we are unless we let them.

8. What role does faith play in your life?
Faith definitely plays a central role in my life. That is not to say that I don't make the occasional (hourly or more frequent) mistake. I would like to say that my faith directs every area of my life, but my control-freakish self stands in the way a lot (sorry about that God). Thankfully, I am a redeemed child of God, and somehow He loves me despite all the crap I do/ think/ say.

9. What's the most important item in your home?
I would DEFINITELY feel the most lost without my laptop and my cell phone. I am a notorious txt'er and I am often preoccupied with facebook or blogs. I also LOVE researching things on the Internet. For some reason it makes me feel knowledgeable.

10. Are there any more kids in your future?
I hope so! God willing I would definitely like to have more kids.

11. Where do you see yourself five years from now?
I am moving out of state in less than 5 weeks, so five years is hard to imagine. I have learned that whenever I speculate about what my life will look like, God likes to have a good laugh. I have gone through so much in the last 5 months that I will admit that I have NO IDEA where I see myself in 5 years. That is a HUGE statement from a control freak planner like me. That's all I have to say about that.

Thanks for reading a snapshot into the life of Rachel. I am glad to see you made it out in one piece (I am not sure about whether or not I will!). You are all invited to play along!! Link your blogs to ours and leave a comment so we can find our way to you, answer in my comment section. Enhance our feeling of community! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!